nbc AND cbc insult swimmers and swimming

Respectfully disagree with you Sam. Great that our sport is getting attention but that's down to Phelps nothing to do with NBC's coverage. They could have allowed some more time for other swimmers who achieved other significant things. Adlington was barely with her hands in the air and they cut to commercial but still managed to squeeze in a replay of Phelps' celebration. It was "Hey a 19 year old record just got smashed and then this just happened 5 minutes ago (umpteenth replay of Phelps getting # 6 or whatever it was). It was pretty bad if you ask me, and yes of course it's a bigger issue for me than you as I'm a Brit by birth and was happy to see something unique for one of ours, at what will be remembered as the Phelp's games. I'm not saying NBC should have shown the anthems and all that jazz but I bet the BBC showed at least a few of Phelps' award ceremonies. People in the UK are talking about him to me (non swimmers); if the Beeb didn't give him his due it wouldn't be as big a deal there. People here have a right to complain; maybe they don't like the US media appearing insular and selfish as they get somewhat tarred with the same brush. I guess the bigger culprit though is the commercial aspect, as that dictates the TV.

I am just amazed at all the complaining here. Swimming has been covered this year more than ever before and we all know why. I have more people asking me about swimming than ever before and only because of NBCs coverage of it. Heck Kobe Bryant and Lebron James were being interviewed today at the Olympics and they were asked about swimming. This is the greatest time in our sport but all of your holier than thou attitudes are crazy. So they didn't talk about Adlington, show the 800 free or 1500 free in its entirety. No one is perfect, but all of you should just step back and look at the attention we are getting and enjoy it. I can't imagine better publicity for our sport. I don't really view all of this as complaining, we just all wish the best for our sport since it's only in the limelight once every 4 years.

This sounds like the same thing that goes on in golf forums complaining about all the coverage of Tiger. The answer is the same. The networks are in the business of getting ratings, and Phelps is THE story. The general public in the U.S. doesn't give a rat's ass about swimming, so the true swimming fans are stuck in the same boat as true golf fans. That's the way it is and it isn't gonna change. I know (and it rattles). Swimmers and non-swimmers alike are just as likely to buy a Chevy (or a Pontiac or this or that Cheese or Beer) as not. (Canadian will, natuarally, buy and drink real beer, but that's another thread...........) :drink: Moreover, swimmers are less likely to go to the bathroom during a swimming break than non-swimmers (even if we're taping it). However, which of the two classes is more likely to buy a LZR? Do we have a Phelps smiley?

What a swim for Adlington! Agreed! And Janet was applauding at the end. Which goes to show what a great "lady" and sportswoman she still is. Her smile was genuine, not made-for-TV (IMHO).

Why should we expect NBC to cover the Olympics any differently than how they have? I bet few people in the States could name more than one swimmer. I mentioned Dara Torres in my office. None of the other 5 people i work with knew who I was talking about. One guy has a girlfriend who swims! We have a monster on our hands. It is only possiboe to market so much. If you confuse your audience, they will not be able to follow you. That will mean that they can't buy. If you have daughters, you don't need to answer this question: How often have you bought "softball" equipment in the last ten years? How often have you recently "wrestled" (mud- or otherwise) with a member of your own gender recently in a tight wrestling outfit? "Some" sports are very audience-specific and a lot of others do not need a great deal of technical knowledge to watch and/or follow.

So that brings me to the question will CBC tonight show the whole 1500 meter race? With Ryan Cochrane having a chance to win the 1500 Free and since there have been no Canadian swimmer to win a gold medal, I would think they are going to show the whole race. I remember them showing the complete 1500 at one of the Olympics but I can't remember which one. I wouldn't count on them showing the entire race, 15minutes is a long time to go without a commercial in tv land. The live streaming on their web site will show it uninterrupted, I watched the 800m there last night. Miracle of miracles. They did show the whole uninterrupted 1500m. The only time they previously did that (that I know of) was during the Montreal Worlds.

I have to give CBC credit, they showed the entire 1500 with no breaks! With a Canadian in the lead a lot of the way they might have been lynched if they had! They did however pretend that the Women's relay happened after the men's, but I forgave them because it was better than I originally thought, i.e. they just skipped them.

We got not one - but TWO commercial breaks. The first was not so bad - the second one they came back right around when Ous had made his move -- simply terrible.